Professional Ballerinas Share Their Daily Diet Secrets to Be as Light as a Feather

The world of classical ballet has a lot of standards and strict rules. They even apply a special formula to calculate a ballerina’s weight, which must not be more than 110 lb. As you can understand, staying fit is essential for any ballerina.

Such requirements seem to be too strict for real life. However, the dieting habits of ballerinas can suit even those who are outside the ballet world.

9. Don’t blacklist your favorite meals.

Apart from trying to eat less junk food in general, you might want to choose a healthy "companion" for it. For example, if you want to eat a hamburger, it’s better to eat it with a salad than with French fries.

8. Choose meals from Japanese and Chinese cuisines.

Such meals don’t contain extra fats and preservatives as they are cooked with fresh ingredients: vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, seaweed, and meat. Eating these tasty dishes with chopsticks is great for dieting too since the nourishment comes more quickly.

7. There are also rules for drinking water.

We all know about the importance of drinking at least 1.5-2 liters of water daily, but you should mind the right time for drinking it too. Ballerinas don’t drink water while eating or right after a meal. Drinking water might dilute stomach acids and prevent normal food digestion.

6. Make food portions smaller.

This trick is very simple: eat half the amount without changing your eating habits. To get used to such changes easily, buy a new set of kitchen dishes. For example, you can replace a plate with a large cup that can fit a good amount of food.

5. Don’t be afraid of carbs.

Excluding carbs from your eating routine is a common mistake people make when dieting. Carbs are a main source of energy. That’s why a lack of carbs can cause not only weakness and tiredness but also serious problems with your body, especially for women.

4. Don’t mix different proteins.

You shouldn’t mix proteins from different groups in one meal if you want your digestion to work properly. For example, fish, meat, dairy products, and eggs make a bad combination. The time interval between these products should be at least 18 hours.

3. Mayonnaise doesn’t exist.

Mayonnaise should be completely excluded from your eating habits. This high-calorie product is digested very slowly. You can add olive oil to your salad or even try to make mayo at home. If you can’t live without it, try to add low-fat yogurt to it in a 1:1 ratio.

2. Have fast days once every 2 weeks.

When ballerinas need to lose weight in a short period of time, they have "fast" days. However, these shouldn’t occur more than once a week. Even better is once every 2 weeks. Here’s an example of a fast day based on tomato juice:

Breakfast: 1 glass of juice

Lunch: 2 glasses of juice and 1 or 2 pieces of rye bread

Dinner: 1 glass of juice

1. Think positively.

You need to think positively in order to set realistic goals and achieve them. This concerns staying in shape too. As soon as you start thinking the right way and realize what your main goal is, it’ll be much easier to take care of your body, and you’ll easily keep doing what you started.

Can you apply a ballerina’s dieting tips to your life? Share with us your ways to stay fit and healthy in the comments below.